I can’t go wordless. If you know me, you know this to be as true as the sun…

But I’ll try to go mostly or somewhat wordless. All pictures are from day 1 of woods hike of Pinhoti. Roughly section 3, specifically from FS 603A to White Gap (? maybe….).

Here goes…. ::holds breath…jumps into the unknown::

I took tons of pictures of this tree… I didn’t know if it needed a pair of glasses, or a bra! Either way, unusual humanoid features in nature amuse me to no end…

I loved all the gentle slopes and clear woods we saw… it encourages you to just throw down your pack and wander.

This copse is very strange… it doesn’t show in the picture well but they all seemed to grow along the ground several feet before shooting up left or right. There were several groups like this on top of the mountain (off trail) where we camped. It felt very magical… like if you walked through the middle it might take you somewhere else…

I liked to call these L trees… but it would be better named a U tree I suppose… I saw several of these too. Pic taken from our campsite off trail.

The size of the mushrooms never failed to amaze me. I wish I could identify edible ones!

Despite how far away geographically we are from Cheaha, there are rock formations all along this beginning part of the Pinhoti that liken back to Cheaha’s rock thick woods… ❤ it.

These flowers were huge!! No idea what they are… Suggestions?

The Pinhoti makes use sometimes of existing roads, or at least crosses them (a lot) throughout Alabama. Here we passed by a tower and travel along the road for a ways. At the time we hiked Pinhoti Section 3 there was nothing available on the internet to tell us what we were passing where. The only directions were the old “road walk” directions. So I have no idea where we were or what this was. Still… interesting. Apparently I may have to do this same sort of “blind faith- trust the blazes” hiking up in GA as I hear they’ve recently completed “some” more woods trails but there is nothing online about its path. I say “some” because even the article I read didn’t say how long the new section was… Could be a mile, could be several… who knows!

It was so hot and muggy my camera kept fogging on the lens… I like the result though… even though it’s a “woods walk” you do cross over several roads. I think this was a power line maintenance road.. But honestly I don’t know…

If you want to see more but don’t mind wading through an onslaught of words you can visit these other posts on my Pinhoti trips…Pinhoti Section 1Pinhoti Section 2Pinhoti Reflections
Also, the Skyway Motorway runs very close, over, and by the Pinhoti for much of its way. Several places you can leave water drops, help thirsty hikers (as we did) or just get out and enjoy the Pinhoti from various spots.

Happy Hiking!
g&w

PS. This would be a good section to take your dog on. I didn’t take mine because I was on for over a week and was unsure of the terrain, as well as Whiskey not being able to handle long week long hikes like this. But if I go back for a quick section hike I’d say- bring the dog, pack lots of water, camp on Rebecca Mountain and do it as an overnighter 🙂

As promised ::coughcough.months.ago.cough:: the first day backpacking write up is here 🙂

I always love taking a before picture. The last time those clothes (and me!) saw water for a loooong time. Hiking is dirty business. Brooke (l) and Gina (r).

Trailhead FS 603A of section 3 (first woods walk) to Bulls Gap 9-8-12

The trailhead as of Sept 2012 did not have a sign board or anything major from the road to indicate where to park. If you follow the directions listed on the PTA website you’ll get to it fine. There is enough room to park maybe two cars- do not block the gate. Also, the forest service looked like it was working on expanding the road or at least making it better the last time I was in there so it probably looks completely different now, 8 months later (the shame… I am so sorry I’m not more prompt). You walk down this road and will quickly see the blue blazes that signify the Pinhoti on your left. You will walk a gentle up and down as you approach Rebecca Mountain. This trail is the newest section and in the best shape of any I walked until Cheaha. It was well cut (we met the maintainers who were weed eating as we walked up!) and well marked. You should have no problem. If I had it to do over again I would have stopped at Rebecca Mountain and camped just because it was so danged pretty.

THERE IS NO WATER IN THIS SECTION! so make sure you have a water drop at Bulls Gap if you’re doing more than a one nighter and pack enough in. I carry 3 liters and ended up having a good method of having a gallon stashed as a water drop at the end of each section which is conveniently 3 liters. That way even if I ran dry before getting to the next trail head I knew I had a full supply waiting. I know a lot of people who might think 3 liters is excessive but I keep my pack at 30lbs (including food and water) and so I’m able to do this. I also have a system I like. I carry a tall Smart Water bottle in my side pocket then have a 2 liter camelbak bag in my bag. I use the bag while hiking and use the bottle once at camp. This helped me manage my water and not over drink or cook complicated stuff that needed more water when I was running low. Everybody has their own system. This just worked for me.

the flat beautiful top of Rebecca Mt where Brooke in the lead saw a fox and other critters…

My filter was almost unnecessary what with the drops. My filter would have been better served at home. But I did filter water 3 times in the approximately 69 miles I backpacked on this trip; once at a forest road on my way up to Rebecca Mountain (it was shortly off trail and we were tipped off by the trail workers where to look, so my threat of no water isn’t true if you know where to look for that one stream), once at Scott’s Lake from a stream past the brownest lake I’ve ever seen, and once short of Blue Mountain shelter from a stream that barely had enough to filter out of. But I didn’t need to. I was almost full on water, I just decided, what the hey- might as well use the danged thing since I’m packing it around.

We had some rain at times, making it muggy, but pretty looking…

So on our first night, we camped on a ridge to our right after not being able to go a step further. It was about 4:30 which is my usual “time to look for a place to camp” time anyway. I have a thing too- about not camping right by roads. So I’m not sure how far past the intersection we passed we were, but this sort of thinking did hinder my mileage a lot. Often it’s not a long hike between trailheads on the Pinhoti, or when it is, there are TONS of forest service and national forest roads cut through that have dirt bikes, four wheelers, off road vehicles, hunters, partying kids (er..or in two cases, partying middle aged men…), etc, roaming about on them. So only once did I have to camp too close to a road for my comfort. As a single woman hiking alone I feel the general best practice for me is to camp no closer than a mile from a road (if I know it’s there). That can be a little tricky because there were sections where I was thinking “where the hell am I going to camp!?” because of the terrain. In fact on my first night I threw down my bag and hightailed it up the side of the mountain to find a wide enough flat spot to camp. We found it. It turned out to have markings on the trees that indicated it was actually part of the old Pinhoti. How old? No clue. Why was it relocated from this awesome sunrise?? I’ve no clue. Property rights?

Celebration Sunrise! Pinhoti wake up call….

This is the view I woke up to once the sun rose a bit higher. AMAZING!!!

We were close to a road but since we were off trail and in a way- stealth camping, since you couldn’t see us from the trail at all- I felt safe. I wonder how I would have felt the first day at the end of the day if I hadn’t had Brooke to babysit me. She camped nearby and just the knowledge that another person was there was comforting. It isn’t easy doing this as a girl alone. There aren’t a lot of us. Every time I talk in public to strangers about camping or hiking like this I get the same response from perfectly capable, strong, women. “You do this ALONE!?” They are flabbergasted. I’d like to point out- Whiskey wasn’t on this trip. When I attended October BOW IN 2011 (visit Alabama’s BOW event page for more) women kept circling around me asking about how I did it, wasn’t I scared? Did I carry a gun? Etc. I answered all the questions and encouraged them to PLEASE get out there in the woods and do for themselves. Don’t feel like you have to have someone with you to do what you love. Just go do it! I often have more offers of people to go with me than I can handle (At least on my day hikes. No one wants in on the 9-dayers lol! ) On the short hikes I usually don’t tell anyone because I’ve come to love going alone. I tell women, if you get out there and start telling your friends what you’re doing you’ll have a waiting list to go hiking with you a mile long. And there are so many varieties of hikes to do that you can find something for everyone.

But wait I am sooo distracted! Back to the current hike.

So where we stayed was perfect, an old road bed it looked like, just wide enough for our tents and with a great view of all the stars you could imagine as well as the most spectacular sunrise on the Pinhoti I witnessed for the entire trip. If you can find this spot, then I say, camp there!

Our home for the night. It appeared to be on an old road bed, but you can see the old trail in the middle too…

Here’s a really frustrating thing, that is all my fault- I do not know the name of the junction right before we camped which would help people find where we camped… and camp there themselves. I think it was White….something… Maybe White Gap.. There was a sign carved in the wood style you see on the Pinhoti on this section. I thought I took a picture of it, but was mistaken. I also texted my husband with the name of it and asked him how far we were from Bull Gap. He couldn’t find it notated on any of the maps we had or websites. Of course I deleted my text to him with the name of it… doh! Bad hiker/blogger! No desert for you! Anyway, if you see a sign saying White something or another right at an intersection of a bunch of dirt roads, keep walking for about a half mile to under a mile and you’ll find a ridge to your upper right that has the “old” trail on it.

Cons to the first day: Guns! We heard TONS of guns down the hill, sounding very close to our campsite. Try not to let it bother you. I read over and over that all over the Pinhoti you will hear constant gunshot. This was definitely true (more true perhaps I should say) of the first two days of hiking. Much of the gunfire came at sunrise… really? Wow.. those people need to sleep in! I will say the rest of the Pinhoti hasn’t offered nearly as much gunfire as those first two days. But I have heard gunfire on almost every day on the Pinhoti, but come on… I live in Alabama. I hear gunfire almost every day of my life anyway lol!

2nd Con: Lack of water (we already covered this so I’ll spare you a rehash).

Very Big Feathers! Brooke sports one for a bit.. I think we ended up losing them all.. I found several over the course of the week.

One great Pro of the first day of trail hiking: The incredibly devoted group of trail maintainers making sure that the path on the 3rd section (and the first section of actual woods trail) was well maintained. Rebecca Mountain is a very pretty place. I’d love to go back for an in and out overnighter. There were also TONS of feathers to pick up on the trail for this section and for about the next 3 days.. I was blown away by the size of the feathers!

Whiskey’s Top Five Toys

We got to try a lot of great new products in the last year or so and some of them were flops in our household but some of them went down in Whiskey enthusiasm legend. Here’s a round up of our favorite dog items.

(In no order of luuuuv):

Zigoo Pets Crinket Toy. This toy is made from flexible and durable (and how!) material that you (painfully and s l o w l y) shove a water bottle in and the dog will go nuts (well, ours did) trying to eat. Our “I can destroy anything” dog has certainly ripped about his fair share of toys but this one gets 5 paws up for complete indestructibleness. It might be able to be destroyed by your dog though! So beware. But ours, who granted, has gotten less bitey with toys recently, didn’t make a dent in it.

Bionic Bone. They have several products but we purchased the bone one. Find them at their site and blog.Wow. Oh wow does our dog love this. He won’t even touch his kong any more. I think it’s because it’s designed to fit into his mouth and shape to his tongue as well as be held easily by his front paws. He loves the command he has over this fillable toy. However, we got a size or two too small for Whiskey’s “size chart” for the bones. This was by chance, and not design. I *wish* he had a larger one because I know it would fit in his paws even better (he likes to hold it when getting at the treats). He doesn’t seem to mind that it’s a tad small though. The Bionic people talk about freezing things in it but when I asked for suggestions on what you could freeze for a dog in it they kinda gave an answer on their fb page like “um, you know, stuff… like peanut butter.” Thanks guys! I never would have thought of that myself! You’re geniuses! Okay, maybe they kinda are since they have a product that’s so fantastic, but I’d love if their site or staff had more ideas about what to put in it for us first time dog owners! I haven’t checked their site too recently so maybe they’ve added this. Check it out and let us know! Or give us your “to freeze” tips 🙂

Fruitables. Made of 100% natural organic ingredients how can you go wrong? You can’t. Our dog is still bonkers about these tiny chewable fruit treats. They smell fabulous (for a dog food I think) too which doesn’t hurt my willingness to buy another bag when this one runs out. We tried the Skini Minis Pumpkin and Mango flavored chewys.

Acadia Antlers. I don’t know if I have words for how fantastic this chew is. It’s a bone…(are you sitting down for this?) on a rope. On a Rope! These guys are geniuses. Not only can my dog chew and tug on the rope but he can gnaw on that fantastic antler. Apparently, Moose antlers are all the rage with Whiskey’s taste buds. They have all different sizes. Whiskey ended up chewing his in half and we had to throw it away so that’s the only flaw with the hole through the rack bit. However, he also had an antler sized too small for him (again, it’s what came in the “large sized” dog box for BarkBox. I intend to order him some bigger ones asap.) Regardless of it’s ultimate demise he did get a lot of chew time out of it! And a bigger one will mean even more chew time. Go Acadia Antlers!

Simply Fido. OMG. Whiskey got this amazing plush, beautifully crafted (seriously, any baby would adore this toy) reindeer. The neat thing about it is how its legs and arms slip back and forth through its body. Somehow this adds a cool level to the toy. For the first two weeks Whiskey wasn’t seen without this toy in his mouth or under his head as a wee pillow. It was amazingly cute, and it held up to his antics. He mostly grew out of tearing stuffed toys limb from limb but he still often rips them when playing tug of war (one of his favorite things). This one has survived unscathed for an entire 3 months except for an eaten tag on its bum. That’s okay Whiskey, I didn’t need to know how to wash it anyway 😉

We’d often ease into a room only to find half of the reindeer under Whiskey’s head. He found the toy to make an excellent pillow….

Honorable Mention (just because of the peculiarity and excitement of finding it): Puppy Cake. We got a red velvet Puppy Cake! It’s totally safe for the dog! I can bake him (and me?) a red velvet cake! I can’t do this right now due to dietary restrictions but as soon as I’m free to eat anything I want again I’m baking my boy a cake! (I’ll let you know how it turns out!!)

Whiskey’s Medium Rated Toys (but we’re holding out hope) of the last year:

Lollycadoodle’s wool toys. We were highly disappointed in the ripability and easily eaten-ness of the first toy we got from them. It was a circle made of wool and he Lovedit. However, his love translated to Whiskey delighting in ripping out small chunks of green and trying to swallow them. More times than not they would get caught on his tongue and he’d be half hacking, half licking trying to either get it out or swallow it (I’ve no idea which) and all around making choking gagging noises. You’d think this alone would land it on our “worst” list but it didn’t because we got a second toy from them (a plush Mr. Mouse). It has held up now for over a week until Whiskey decided to tear an ear off (normal for him). He hasn’t eaten bits of it. He hasn’t choked on it. It’s holding up way better than the first one. In fact, if we had recieved the Mouse first it would have been on our *best* list. We recommend Lollycadoodle for light chewers or nondestructive dogs (those do exist …. right?) or dogs who will be highly monitored with the right type of Lollycadoodle toy.

Worst of of the past year:

I’m sharing it not to bash it, but because for some of your dogs- they might win an award! But our dog could not have cared less for this toy. Notice we only had one on the list? We’ve had several new products in our house over the last year and almost all of them were received with dog glee. However, this one, was a complete dud for us. But every dog has a different style of playing. So check them out and see what you think!

Our attempts to get Whiskey to hold (or play with) the toy…failed miserably. This is as close as we got.

Moody Pet’s HuMunga Stache fetch toy. Whiskey could not be enticed by any means to pick this toy up once we got it. He slowly came around where he wanted you not to touch it- so if you tried to play with him with it, he’d take it from you and carry it off to another room to leave it and then come back to you. He played with it so little that we actually forgot about it until several months later I saw that he was gnawing on it and had started to make lots of indentations on it with his teeth. I mean, he was doing some rapid damage! So I had to remove it. I think it’s meant to be pretty tough, but it wasn’t, not for our power chewer. If you have a power chewer do NOT leave him alone with this toy. Still I have to admit it’s a super cute idea! If you can get your dog to hold it right I want pictures!

By the way, we weren’t given these toys. We bought them.

How would we know where to find such magnificent things? Simply put- We didn’t.

We purchased a Bark Box subscription when they were running a groupon deal (best thing ever) and we truly like the Bark Box. I don’t know how long we’ll do it, but for right now it’s perfect for us. I figured I made at least the amount of the Bark Box cost in random spur of the moment purchase for Whiskey when shopping for his food at pet stores. This kept me from buying random impulse buys and we just wait for the box. Sometimes they are grand. Sometimes they are not. Overall the toys/treats are too small for him so if you truly have a *large* dog beware. They do not have an extra large box (they need to though!). But for now we’re happy and I’d definitely highly recommend it to anyone with the disposable income to buy their box. If anyone has questions about Bark Box I’d be happy to answer them.

Here’s to another year of fantastic dog toys and human things to buy and play with! Happy Trails to you all!

We hit the trails this morning at dawn (someone actually beat us out there!) hoping to get some bikejoring in before the weather warms up where we can’t do it at all. We logged 5 miles.

a beautiful way to start out our day

This is a fantastic trail to bikejor (urban mush), run with your dog, hike off trail down to the many places the stream comes near the trail, or just walk with your dog. We’ve never had any trouble with loose dogs on the trail or trouble with people. There’s never been any dangerous trash (we’ve been on other trails with loads of broken glass and even needles on occasion). It’s a good safe well maintained trail.

Not sure what these markers were. Maybe had to do with the train? This was where we heard the coyotes! The light was so amazing through all the green. I couldn’t capture it well on film though!

We highly recommend this rails to trails section. We have only been to the 2.5 mile marker so I’m not sure exactly how long it currently is or when they will stop expanding it. I’ve heard the trail is currently about 3.5 miles and will eventually have benches along the way (Whiskey will appreciate this!). To get to the trail you can park at either Black Creek Park and walk along the pretty obvious Rails to Trails path that heads back under Hwy 31, or you can park at the Fultondale Bark Park (check out their fb page too) and walk out of the park onto the main road and curve back to your left towards Leora Avenue. The trail goes parallel to LEora for a short block or so before veering off into the woods. By the way, the Dog Park is located at the corner of Fulton Road and Stouts Road in Fultondale.

At 2 miles Whiskey suggests turning around. I veto him.

After not running a lot Whiskey did pretty good on today’s trek but we spent about half the time at a slow jog or even slow walk pace. I typically let Whiskey set the pace, especially given some of his health needs that leave him a little worn out at times.

If you’re alert and on the trail when no one else is- it provides a wealth of wildlife. We saw several birds and rabbits, heard one duck, and heard coyotes in the distance making a great morning sunrise ruckus! Whiskey also picked up the scent of an animal I saw no tracks for but he went totally nuts trying to track it so it wasn’t anything he’s used to. Deer? Boar? No idea.

Each new year people pen out their wishes and dreams for themselves, their lives, their families. I see no harm in this.

I do it. But I also see perhaps more value in setting out to do certain things instead of just wish for. These things rarely make into a resolution list which is more akin to a dreaming made ink onto paper. But the doing, now there’s the thing. I try to do 1-3 things each year that force me to grow. Grow! GROW!

Recap: This year here are my main big undertakings that stretched me as a human, a mate, an animal lover, a traveler in 2012…

I took a series of horse riding courses. This is something I had wanted to do since I was a child. My mother spoke of riding horses as a child and my cousins had horses. It left me with an empty hole… a longing. I wanted these memories too… so I took the lessons and it was wonderful, and challenging. I didn’t even care much that I was surrounded by a bunch of 7 year olds… lol. I wasn’t the only adult, by the way, just one of the very few… and they were private lessons, but you see other lessons (with seven year olds) going on.

We tried to get a good pic on my phone of me riding. Not possible on my phone apparently! Sorry for the blur!

I finished our solo trek of the Natchez Trace. (Even if I haven’t finished blogging about it yet!) It was challenging and stirring and moving and inspiring. It made me feel much more confident with Whiskey as we faced new traveling challenges.

On the last leg of our Natchez Trace Trip Whiskey looks quite at home on the top of an old Indian Mound doesn’t he?

This trip really solidified some of our traveling habits. I feel much more confident traveling with Whiskers now! It was really good for us 🙂

I got chickens. That’s right! I got Cheeeeekiiiiins! And we couldn’t be happier. They are our pets, and are named. They live outdoors but in swank surroundings. I have had to learn some instant on the spot vet skills and had some tearful trying times but all three of our 1 day old baby birds have lived and we are very proud of each of them. Chickens are so rewarding! I can’t imagine ever not having them (unless someone comes and tells us we have to get rid of them… as many zoning ordinances do not allow for backyard fowl, even in small numbers… but let’s not think about that!).

I hiked a BIG chunk of the Pinhoti alone. This was a HUGE undertaking for me. Much harder than I imagined. The loneliness was palpable. I had company on the first night only and then spent the rest of the week in solitude cursing along in my too tight shoes that cost me several toe nails (they weren’t tight till the feet started swelling….) But my confidence… wow I cannot tell you how much more confident of a backpacker I am now that I have camped so many nights alone in the wilderness. It was spectacular.

So onto this years goals? I have a few ideas.. we’ve got some stuff in the works as a family (shhhh… it’s a secret) and then individually I’m taking on the goal of getting a city bike and riding it to work a few times a week. This is both exciting and scary! Scary because I’ll be going home in 5 o’clock traffic. I have a few more solo trips I’d like to take backpacking… specifically to finish the entire Pinhoti trail. We’ll be gardening more… I’m working on some art pieces, and working on some poetry that I’d like to see published. I’m also going to teach myself knife throwing. I looked for classes anywhere within a days drive and couldn’t find any. And I’m talking frontier skills knife throwing. Not some pansy ninja crap- but the Take Down A Bear or Zombie at 20 Paces stuff! Yeah! Just call me FrontiersWomanGina. (Don’t worry, no beards included).

So as for Whiskey- my goals are this- to get a new bikejoring harness (his is too small and I’m worried about it hitting too high on his throat and restricting breathing… so we need a new one), to hike 2 entire sets of park trails in Alabama, and to camp at a new state park to explore.

For the farm- my goals are to plant twice as many herbs, plant at least 5 veggies, and to get in two new fruit sources this year. I hope they do better than last years blueberry bushes!

So what about you? I challenge you to think small- I sometimes only undertake ONE new skill a year. This makes it manageable and completely doable. What have you been putting off learning that you’ve always wanted to do? Pottery classes? Painting? Restoring an old vehicle? Hiking??? I challenge you to *make* time somewhere in the next year. Getting out there and learning a new skill makes us better people and grows our souls. It stretches us.

Let me tell you about a fishing location that is super pet friendly. Lake Purdy, near Birmingham Alabama .

We recently went on an all day fishing trip and when we were getting ready to get on the boat the guy mentioned a fellow who comes up to just ride around the lake, doesn’t fish at all, with his dog, a pretty collie.

Cap’n Brandon! Leaving the boat dock you can see the gentle rise of the hills behind us.

I had been bemoaning the trip because while I like to fish a little while- I do not like to fish all day. I like to read. I like to hike. I like to play with the dog. I do not like to fish all day. So I was all moany like “I wish I could bring Whiskey ::insert sad wife pout grumble::” and now… now I can.

Here is a link to their page. They do run specials (we got our boat for half off) and if you have a motor then you’re definitely in the best boat (no pun intended… or maybe terrible pun was intended haha!) financially because it will save you quite a bit. They have a wide variety of boats. No private vessels are allowed. Also, make sure to talk to the guys before going out- they are a wealth of information. I could have just sat around talking to them all day. If you aren’t an avid fisherman don’t worry. These guys couldn’t have been nicer to a novice like me. They answered every question and were so informative! You could tell the loved their jobs… and why wouldn’t they?

Don’t like to fish? No worries. This is a mecca for birdwatchers and animal enthusiasts. We saw a small family of maybe 3-5 deer wading through the lake to get to part of the shore which they then climbed onto and rushed up a hill. We saw a variety of large herons and the like flying about all day. And we didn’t even canvas the lake. I plan to harass ask Brandon nicely (a lot) when we can go back and drive around the perimeter of the lake so I can see more critters. The boat rental place has lots of people just come up to ride around on the lake (like the Collie and his owner) so don’t feel weird about it! Pack a lunch and hit the water for a relaxing day out.

Along the shore we saw numerous herons, deer, and other fascinating critters.

Also if you like being on the water at night they have night boat rentals. Seriously cool.

I was also very interested in the history of the lake. It’s been there well over a hundred years when they dammed it up. You can’t get near the dam now (it’s guarded and has a long line of nets to keep boats back) but it looks really pretty from the top of it anyway. It’s a matter of security why they do this. It’s been restricted since 2001 since it is a water supply for our area. Apparently when they dammed the lake there used to be a small school house, and town that was flooded over to make the lake it’s current size (the original lake was waaaay smaller).

Brrr! It’s cold in the winter. Sorry there are no Whiskey pics. Maybe next time!

So if you’re like us and are thinking of taking your dog on a boat trip- check out these helpful tips for dogs and boating.

And if you’re dog is not familiar with water/boating you might want to have a back up plan. For instance- you do not want to force your dog to walk the shaky gangplank to his doom if he’s seriously freaking out about the boat. Also, not all dogs are good swimmers. Don’t take your dog on the boat if you haven’t already worked with him on swimming. It took us an entire summer to get Whiskey to swim! As for the backup plan- Make sure you have a person who can perhaps stay on shore and work with him until he’s ready to get on the boat. Or better yet, don’t pay for the boat until you see if your dog is a water friendly, boat dock friendly pup. If he’s not, it’s better you haven’t paid for hours you can’t use. Just drive him home and then come back sans pooch if he truly panics. If you’re coming to Purdy from anywhere around the B’ham metro area this shouldn’t be that much of a chore to do, and in the end will be better for everyones mental health. Always be prepared for the randomness of dogs though. We’ve loaded Whiskey onto a boat before with no problem, then the last time a few weeks ago we had to spend an hour with him on shore hanging out- just me and him watching Brandon fish and explore the lake until Whiskey was suddenly (but still reluctantly ready to board the boat). But once he was on the boat he was a-okay.

Lastly, it is *always* a good idea to invest in and have your dog wearing a dog life jacket in case he falls overboard or decides to go daredog and dive in. Remember too that if a dog doesn’t have an easy way to board back onto the boat he can get injured if he jumps off and tries to climb back in. I have a friend who got seriously bruised and scratched up trying to get her dogs back into the boat after they went overboard.

Well, I hope you can go out and explore this little niche of Alabama woods and history. It was a lot of fun. Next time we will be bringing Whiskey!

After hiking the Pinhoti, all I can see in this water trail is a turkey track 😀

By now everyone’s heard of Dewey. Right. Right? If you haven’t I suggest you pick yourself up a copy of the book Dewey the Library Cat. I listened to it on audiobook and it was read by the author. I thought she brought something extra to it, as authors who read their own work often do. Well, actually sometimes authors reading their own work is a terrible idea. But in this case it made me feel I knew the author a lot better than I otherwise would. But I digress…

We let BabyCat take center stage with this BookBark Review…given the species of the main character.

So about this cat Christmas story. It’s cute. And a short kids read too. Adults will like it as well I think. I enjoyed reminiscing over the cats I had growing up, and the two we’ve had together since being married and their incredibly different reactions to Christmas Trees and all the fuss. You never know what you’re going to get until you get it all out and see how the cat responds. Oh, and the dogs. The dogs are just as funny.

I was saddened recently to realize I’d lost an important picture. We had a picture of Whiskey and Midnight (his best bud- a cat) staring thoughtfully at the tree the first year they encountered it together (I believe they were plotting its demise and indeed it did suffer minor damages under their reckless care). They looked very mischievous. And while I can’t find that picture anywhere on my various devices I do have the image branded into my brain. In lieu of it I have to post this picture. Despite the uncountable numbers of times we found them sleeping closely, or grooming one another affectionately, I can only find one series of pictures of them together. I regret this. I wish I had more pictures to remember them together. Midnight a survivor of FIV left our family for the rainbow bridge in the spring of 2011.

Midnight and Whiskey were often found snuggled up together. BabyCat who adored Midnight, could never warm up to Whiskey that much.

I once had two tortoise shell cats that delighted in ripping off the bottom ornaments and eating and playing with them. Instead of fighting them, we put the least valuable and/or softest sewn ornaments on the bottom so they could have them. Seeing those knitted red and white Christmas stocking ornaments still brings tears to my eyes when I think of Brack and Puck. I got them in high school. My husband Brandon drove me to pick them up (way out in the middle of NoWheresVille. And then took me to the local Food World to get their new loot). He also helped me name them. Little did I know a little more than 10 years later I’d still be crushing on the hot guy who helped me get those pets and eventually marry him… (ladies, take note- guys who are good to their pets, will probably be good to you.) wait! I’m Digressing Again! Okay. Focus. It’s Christmas I think.. it makes us reminisce.

“I see you watching me read.”

I hope you will all take the time to include your pets in your holidays and to remember those that came before. Make it safe but fun for them. Enjoy and treasure their reactions to the decorations, the special food, and visitors that grace your home. And take some time (I hope you can) to slow down and check out a book (picture or otherwise) to celebrate the season.